


warm

by katierosefun



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Prequel Trilogy, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Gen, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Human Disaster Obi-Wan Kenobi, Hurt/Comfort, Hypothermia, Light Angst, Obi-Wan Kenobi Needs a Hug, Sea Monsters, Sick Character, Sickfic, Whump, and like...a thousand blankets tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 00:41:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27065815
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/katierosefun/pseuds/katierosefun
Summary: Anakin felt his body go weightless, and then he was tossed to the side. He felt something cut into his hand—he couldn't tell what it was, but Anakin heard more cracking and splitting, and then he lifted his head to see Obi-Wan fall through the ice."Obi-Wan!"Anakin launched himself across the ice, not caring if it was cracking more underneath him. He skidded to a stop in front of the hole Obi-Wan had disappeared through. He could only see the water, now gone black in the darkness. Stupid, stupid, he should have been paying attention to where he was standing, why didn't be pay attention—[or: Anakin and Obi-Wan have a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad day on an ice planet.]
Relationships: Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker
Comments: 18
Kudos: 272





	warm

"How much farther?" Anakin asked.

"Not much farther," Obi-Wan replied. "Which was also my response when you asked the same question five minutes ago."

Anakin sighed. "Thought we would have covered more ground," he muttered, turning back to look at, indeed, just how much ground they had covered.

Not really ground, though. That would be the wrong word for the glassy expanse of ice that didn't seem to have an end. Ice planets. Anakin was starting to realize that he didn't really like ice planets, because they were _cold_ , for one, and also because there only ever seemed to be...well. Ice. That made walking a pain, and Anakin was sure he saw _something_ swimming underneath his feet once or twice, and he didn't particularly like that.

Obi-Wan didn't seem to like that either, even with his uncanny tendency to befriend animals. Anakin had noticed him step away whenever something seemed to slither past, and Anakin followed suit.

Anakin looked up at the grey sky. He didn't like how dark the day was already getting—Ahsoka and Rex were probably wondering what was taking them so long by now. Or, if they were really worried, they might start sending out a search party, which, while that would be embarrassing, Anakin didn't really mind because. Again. It was _cold_ , and he felt something move under the ice again.

Anakin deliberately quickened his pace so that he would be walking next to Obi-Wan. "How're you holding up?"

"As well as you, I would hope," Obi-Wan replied. The tip of his nose had gone red, along with his cheeks and his ears. Anakin figured he probably looked the same. "If you're able to maintain this conversation."

"It's either that, or look at the _thing_ swimming underneath us," Anakin replied, shooting another wary glance down at the ice.

"It hasn't bothered us so far," Obi-Wan said. "And the ice seems...relatively thick."

"Relative being the key word," Anakin muttered, tapping his foot against the ice.

"Don't—"

"Relax, I'm not pressing that hard," Anakin said. He shot Obi-Wan what he hoped was a teasing grin. "Scared?"

"It's nothing to joke about, Anakin," Obi-Wan muttered. He looked up at the sky and frowned. "We better hurry. I don't like the look of those clouds."

Anakin grunted in agreement. He shot another glance up at the sky. They had grown considerably darker in just the last few minutes they had been walking, and now Anakin could feel a new kind of heaviness in the air: the kind right before a rainstorm.

Anakin tugged at the zipper of his parka, even though it was already zipped up as high as it possibly could be. He was wearing gloves, but still, his fingers were clumsy, slow from the cold. Anakin stuffed his hands into his pockets and trudged on, noticing that Obi-Wan, too, had his hands in his pockets.

Again, Anakin wished that they were already back with Ahsoka and Rex. They had probably just finished their half of the sweep of this stupid planet, which had been rumored to hold a Separatist outpost. Anakin had gone into this operation thinking that it was pointless—and of course, he had been right. They hadn't found anything, and to top it all off, their speeders had broken down halfway back to the rendezvous point. (Which. Was Anakin's fault, he realized. If he had just checked the actual speeders beforehand...but he thought this mission was going to be casual anyways…)

 _Waste of time_ —that was what this whole mission had been. A huge waste of time and resources, and now Anakin's hands were frozen, and he was pretty sure Obi-Wan's hands were frozen, too, except of course, his former master wasn't complaining.

And there were lots of things to complain about, besides the broken speeders and the frozen hands—there was also the fact that Anakin was pretty sure it was about to rain ( _how could there be rain on an ice planet?_ ) and some freaky fish thing still following them—

Anakin caught Obi-Wan looking at him. "What?"

"You seem troubled," Obi-Wan said.

"Well, _yeah_ ," Anakin replied. "Aren't you?" He kicked a little at the ice again, ignoring Obi-Wan's wince. " _Relax_ , this ice is thicker than durasteel, I'm pretty sure."

"Yes, but I wish you wouldn't _test_ that—"

"I don't think the ice cares," Anakin replied. He focused back in front of himself. Still more ice. Still more white and grey and the faintest tinge of blue of water that was still underneath them. After a moment, Anakin huffed out a breath that curled in front of him. "I just can't wait to get back and actually feel my toes."

"Agreed," Obi-Wan murmured. "But look at it this way—it's better that we didn't have any trouble. Imagine if there really was a Separatist outpost here."

"Maybe there would be actual speeders that could take us back," Anakin said.

"Or maybe you and I would have been ridiculously outnumbered," Obi-Wan replied.

"Would have been more interesting than this, at least."

"Don't go asking for trouble," Obi-Wan warned.

"I don't _ask_ for trouble," Anakin replied. "It just asks for _me_. And then I respond. Happily."

"Well," Obi-Wan huffed, "if you're responding _happily_ —"

Anakin managed a smirk, but his lips were too cold to actually form one. He wound up shivering instead.

"We'll be there soon," Obi-Wan said after a little while.

"I know," Anakin replied. "Just wish…that we were back already."

"As do I," Obi-Wan murmured.

Anakin looked at Obi-Wan. He hadn't expected that—the sudden admittance, but up closer now, Anakin could see the whiteness under the flush of Obi-Wan's cheeks. That, and the slight bruised color shadows under his eyes, and Anakin tried to remember if he had seen those before they had gone out. But before he could come to an answer of his own, Obi-Wan stopped.

Anakin stopped too. "What is it?" he asked.

Obi-Wan frowned. "Our friend hasn't appeared in a while."

"You mean that _thing_?" Anakin asked, glancing down at the ice. True to Obi-Wan's point, Anakin didn't see anything slithering or swimming underneath his feet anymore. He looked back up at Obi-Wan, but his former master was staring at the ice, a wrinkle appearing between his brow. "That's a good thing, right?"

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan said slowly. "But it disappeared rather suddenly, didn't it?"

"So it went home," Anakin said, walking a few steps forward. He tugged at the zipper of his parka again. "Probably to warmer waters."

"Perhaps," Obi-Wan repeated behind him.

Anakin heard Obi-Wan fall into step from behind, and for a few moments, Anakin thought that that was that—the conversation had ended, when Obi-Wan's steps faltered.

"What?" Anakin asked, not bothering to turn around.

"Something I'm remembering…"

"Like?" Anakin asked, not even bothering to hide the annoyance from his voice. He knew Obi-Wan meant well, but it would be _much_ easier to listen to him if he knew that they were at least both walking. Anakin walked forward. The sky had grown so much darker now, dark enough to the point that the clouds looked more black than grey.

Suddenly, Obi-Wan said, " _Anakin_ —"

Anakin didn't get to hear the rest of Obi-Wan's words—not over the loud, blood-chilling crack that split the ice.

Anakin spun around in time to see the massive crack in the ice, and then huge, glinting _scales_ —

Anakin looked down and froze.

Two large yellow eyes blinked up at him.

" _Son of a_ —"

"Run!"

Obi-Wan leapt over the crack in the ice and grabbed Anakin's arm. " _Now_."

Anakin didn't need to be told twice. He ran alongside Obi-Wan, both concentrating on _not_ falling and _not_ getting caught up in the cracks of ice that now were definitely following them. The fish—serpent— _whatever that thing was_ , was swimming after them too, and Anakin thought he heard a hiss.

"What _is_ that thing?" Anakin huffed.

"The thing that must have scared off our other friend, I think," Obi-Wan replied. "It—"

Another crack sounded, and Anakin swore again as he watched the ice split around them. Whatever that _thing_ was, it was bigger than Anakin thought.

Anakin looked ahead. He saw something dark coiling a few feet away from them, the ice starting to—

"Obi-Wan—"

Anakin grabbed Obi-Wan's wrist and threw themselves backwards just as the ice in front of them exploded in shards and scales.

Anakin landed on his back, and then he was scrambling up, hoping that the ice wouldn't give beneath him.

"Oh, not good," Obi-Wan said beside Anakin, and he agreed.

So, they hadn't been followed by a fish. Anakin's second guess was right—because now they were looking up at a towering serpent-like creature, one with a flickering tongue glinting teeth and eyes as big as Anakin's head.

The serpent hovered, its head swaying from side to side as its hungry eyes fixed down on Anakin and Obi-Wan. Anakin saw something that looked suspiciously like blood drip from a corner of the serpent's mouth, and he figured that Obi-Wan's guess about what happened to the other creature was correct.

"I _did_ tell you not to ask for trouble, didn't I?" Obi-Wan asked wearily.

"Don't start," Anakin replied. He activated his lightsaber, and that was when the serpent decided to strike.

Anakin dove to one side—Obi-Wan dove to the other as the serpent crashed between them. Anakin got to his feet just as the ice started to crack more beneath him. Anakin leapt to another patch of less-cracked ice, watching with dread as the ice that he had just been on fell through the now much darker water. If the ice was already starting to give way…

Anakin skittered backwards as the ice around the serpent started to crack even more. _Maybe it'll fall through_ , Anakin thought. But then the serpent would probably emerge again, and that wasn't going to solve anything.

Anakin looked down the serpent to find its head still writhing against the cracking ice. Its head turned and fixed on Anakin, and he knew what he had to do.

Anakin jumped up to the serpent's body. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Obi-Wan do the same.

His foot nearly slipped on the scales—they were slippery, and he would have fallen over if Obi-Wan didn't pull him back.

They both readjusted themselves on top of the serpent, exchanged a quick nod before Anakin ran down the scales. He heard Obi-Wan behind him, and the serpent, sensing its new visitors, let out a sharp hiss as it swiveled its head back—

But by then, it was too late. Anakin took a bounding leap to one side; Obi-Wan to the other. A flash of lightsabers, the smell of charred flesh, and a deafening shriek later, Anakin hit the ice in time for the serpent's body to go limp.

"Anakin?"

"Here," Anakin said, coming around the serpent's dangling head. He found Obi-Wan leaning against the serpent's body, but when Obi-Wan noticed Anakin, he pushed himself off.

"Well," Obi-Wan said, "was that enough excitement for you?"

"More than enough," Anakin replied. He gestured. "Come on—the sooner we get away from this thing, the better."

Obi-Wan nodded. He took a few steps forward, Anakin a few steps back to give Obi-Wan some more room—

Anakin heard Obi-Wan's sharp breath first, the crack of ice second.

For a disorienting second, Anakin thought that the ice was cracking underneath _Obi-Wan_ , but when he looked, there was nothing—

Anakin felt his body go weightless, and then he was tossed to the side. He felt something cut into his hand—he couldn't tell what it was, but Anakin heard more cracking and splitting, and then he lifted his head to see Obi-Wan fall through the ice.

"Obi-Wan!"

Anakin launched himself across the ice, not caring if it was cracking more underneath him. He skidded to a stop in front of the hole Obi-Wan had disappeared through. He could only see the water, now gone black in the darkness. _Stupid, stupid, he should have been paying attention to where he was standing, why didn't be pay attention_ —

And then—

A flash of blue. Obi-Wan's lightsaber. He was trying to kick back up, Anakin realized.

Anakin didn't wait.

He dove into the water.

If the water was freezing—which it most certainly was, Anakin didn't particularly notice. He followed the blue light down, down, down—

Anakin couldn't see anything otherwise. The water was too dark—

He reached, and his fingers just barely brushed against a hand—

Anakin gritted his teeth. _Come on—_

He reached again, and this time, he felt fingers fumble around his. Touch was a funny thing underwater, Anakin realized. It didn't quite feel real—but Anakin made out Obi-Wan's face and decided that was real enough.

Anakin kicked back up to the surface as hard as he could.

\--

Too cold air flooded Anakin's lungs—but it was air, and he wasn't going to complain, not as he dragged both Obi-Wan and himself back up to the ice.

He heard coughing—wet, harsh coughing, and Obi-Wan rolled out from under Anakin's grip. Anakin sat up quickly, already reaching, but Obi-Wan was securely on the ice now, albeit turned away.

"Obi-Wan—" Anakin settled a hand on his former master's back as he coughed out water from his lungs. "Breathe— _breathe_ —"

A raggedy breath, and then Obi-Wan slumped forward with a feeble half-cough, half-groan. "Well," he said, his voice painfully hoarse, "that was refreshing."

Anakin would have laughed if he wasn't aware of how cold he was. Or how cold Obi-Wan must be. Anakin's parka stuck to him like a second skin, and he didn't want to think about what would happen if they were out in the cold for too much longer.

"Glad to know your sense of humor's still intact," Anakin managed. He stood up. "We should get moving."

"Yes," Obi-Wan said. He started to get up—started, but then he sank back to the ice with a soft " _oh_."

"Obi-Wan?" Anakin asked, feeling a cold that didn't have anything to with the actual temperature. He lowered himself next to Obi-Wan. "What's wrong? Are you hurt? Is—" Anakin looked down, frantically searching for blood. "Did—"

"No," Obi-Wan said, and with a weak laugh that Anakin hated because he knew what _that_ meant, "just...have to catch my breath. I did just go for an unexpected swim, after all…"

"Not funny anymore."

"Worth a shot," Obi-Wan said. He closed his eyes briefly, reopened them. "Right," he said. "We can't just stay here…"

"No," Anakin replied. He slipped an arm under Obi-Wan, dragged him up to his feet. "Hang on."

"Do I have a choice?"

"No." Anakin readjusted his grip on Obi-Wan. He walked forward, making sure not to step on any more of the fractured ice. They inched past the serpent's dead body, and Anakin tried not to gag on the smell. He didn't know if Obi-Wan noticed, though.

Something cold hit Anakin's forehead, and for a moment, he thought that it was just water dripping from his hair. But then he felt another something cold, and then another and another and another, and then it was raining.

Anakin sighed. "Of course."

"I did say…" Obi-Wan started to say, but the rest was lost to coughing. Anakin stopped as Obi-Wan jerked away, one hand weakly trying to hold back the rest of the fit, but it was too much—Anakin found himself lowering Obi-Wan back to the ground as the terrible coughing continued. "'kin—"

"Right here," Anakin said, dropping down in front of Obi-Wan. He brought his hand up to touch his former master's cheek. Cold. Everything was cold. Anakin shrugged out of his own parka. Even if it was wet, and even if it wasn't that much better, Anakin hoped it at least carried some of his own body heat over—what little there was of it left, anyways.

"No," Obi-Wan started, trying to move away. " _Anakin_ —"

"Relax," Anakin said, tightening his parka around Obi-Wan. "You said it yourself. We're not that much farther than the others—"

" _No_ —" Obi-Wan's hands fumbled around the parka. "Stop—"

"Just listen to me," Anakin said. "Okay? For once, just listen. I'll be fine." But even as he said that, Anakin felt the cold creeping in on him. His chest hurt a little now, but that would be a later problem.

The rain was coming a little harder now, Anakin realized. He hoped he wasn't as shivering as hard as he felt, not as he dragged himself to his feet. He helped Obi-Wan stand up, repositioned themselves so that Obi-Wan was leaning against him.

Anakin gripped Obi-Wan's side, though now he wasn't really sure if he was doing it to keep Obi-Wan or himself upright. Anakin pressed forward with gritted teeth, tried to concentrate on keeping his legs from shaking.

The rain was making it difficult for Anakin to see anything, too. He looked through the black and grey, and for a second, nothing really seemed to make sense, and Anakin couldn't tell where the grey sky ended or began, or if he was standing on the ice or maybe standing amidst the clouds—everything was just so _grey_ —

Anakin's jaws hurt from clenching so hard. He turned his eyes back down to the ice below him. He didn't see any more yellow eyes, thankfully, but the black expanse of water underneath him wasn't helping matters, either...Anakin's head spun, and he forced himself to look back up at the horizon. If he hadn't been holding onto Obi-Wan, he would have been lost.

Anakin took a few more steps. Just a few more. Just a little farther—that was Obi-Wan had said, so they had to be close—

Anakin's hand slipped past Obi-Wan's side. Only for a moment, and only by accident, but that was enough for Anakin's knees to suddenly buckle, and this time, he heard Obi-Wan's hoarse cry as they both hit the ice.

"Sorry, sorry," Anakin said, forcing himself up on the ice. Tried to. His chest still felt too tight, his muscles oddly weak. Bad. That was bad. He pressed a gloved hand against the ice, tried to push himself up that way. He got up on one knee, then the other. _Come on, Skywalker_ — _don't give up now_ —

He inhaled. It hurt to breathe.

 _Come on, get up_ —

"Almost there," Anakin whispered. "We're almost…" He couldn't be bothered to finish. His teeth were chattering too hard.

He felt Obi-Wan shift next to him, heard the rustle of cloth—

"It's your turn to listen to me," Obi-Wan said. His voice was so painfully raw from the coughing and the cold.

Anakin hadn't even noticed that Obi-Wan had passed back the parka until he felt Obi-Wan's hands on his shoulders. He wanted to pull away and complain— _not fair, I gave it away first, you're not allowed to give it back_ —but his lips refused to form the words.

"'m sorry," was all Anakin could manage. "Speeders…"

"Not your fault," Obi-Wan replied.

"Trouble…"

"Not your fault either."

Anakin closed his eyes. He dropped his head forward. He was exhausted, and he was cold, and it was still raining, and they were still on the ice. He needed to get up. They needed to get up. _They needed to get up_ —

He heard Obi-Wan's sharp inhale, and for a moment, Anakin thought he was about to cough again— _sorry, Master_ —when he heard something else above it all—

" _Master!_ "

" _General!_ "

Anakin jerked his head up. He turned, and there—he saw two speeders making their way towards them. He let out a small sound that might have been embarrassing if he wasn't so relieved—because Ahsoka and Rex were in front of them now, and then there were desperate hands and Ahsoka's mouth running a mile a minute: " _are you guys okay_ " and " _you're so cold_ " and " _come on, come on, come on_ ", and all Anakin could manage was, " _Obi-Wan_ —"

"We've got him, General," came Rex's steady voice. Steady, but Anakin could detect the relief there, too. A warm hand patted Anakin's shoulder, moved him towards one of the speeders. "We're getting you two home."

Anakin managed a dull nod. A moment later, Ahsoka was sitting on the speeder, and Anakin was too tired to protest when she took the controls.

\--

Anakin woke up alone.

For a moment, he wasn't sure where he was. He could just look up at the warm light dangling above him. He tried to sit up, get a better look at his surroundings, but his whole body was leaden, refusing to be moved. That, and Anakin's head. A dull pain throbbed behind his eyes as he shifted his attention back to the light. Pain and exhaustion and confusion all molded into one, and then—

_Where was everyone?_

Anakin tried to remember. The sea serpent. Obi-Wan falling through the ice. The trek back. Ahsoka and Rex—

They had to be here—

Anakin slowly pushed the covers away from himself. He shivered. _Cold_. He was still cold.

He gripped the edge of the bed, forced himself up. He was dressed differently, he noticed. Someone had gotten him into warm and dry clothes, but Anakin didn't want to think about who. He stopped, closed his eyes once to keep the room from spinning.

 _Come on_ —

Anakin dropped his feet to the ground. Someone had given him socks, too, which would have been funny if Anakin's head wasn't hurting so much. His throat, too. His throat felt raw and dry, and Anakin wondered if he had been saying anything in his sleep…

He took a step away from the bed.

Big mistake.

He crashed to the ground a moment later.

And then he heard rushing feet—

The door slid open.

" _Master_ —"

"I'm fine," Anakin said, but Ahsoka was already at his side. "Just—where—"

"Special wing," Ahsoka said, helping Anakin sit up. "To get you and Master Kenobi warmed up."

"Obi-Wan—is he—" Anakin's breath caught, and he jerked away, coughing into his elbow. He thought it would be gone in just a moment, but no—too hard to breathe—Anakin dry-heaved, felt the hot swell of tears in his eyes as he tried to regain his breath.

He became aware of Ahsoka's hand patting his back only a few seconds later.

"Master Kenobi's...okay," Ahsoka said when Anakin finished coughing—and that was a long while before he finally finished coughing. His head hurt more, if that was possible. His head and his chest and everything. "But he's a little sick. Like you."

"I'm not—" Anakin's voice rasped, and he stopped.

Ahsoka gave him a sidelong glance. "Right," she said. "You two were _frozen_ when Rex and I found you."

"You can't get sick from being _cold_ ," Anakin said, and he meant to sound a little more convicted, but already, he was starting to grow tired again. He shivered again.

"No," Ahsoka said, "but it's easier if you're already carrying _something_." She stood up, dragging Anakin up with her as she went along. Either Anakin was weaker than he usually was, or Ahsoka was stronger than he thought—both of which were true, Anakin realized, but still, he was surprised at how easily Ahsoka guided him back to bed.

"Just get some sleep," Ahsoka said, dragging the covers back up to Anakin. "And there's a comm right there if you need anything." She nodded to the comlink that was, in fact, sitting on the small table next to the bed.

Anakin nodded. He was too tired to argue otherwise. He still tried to say something though—but he couldn't find the energy to move his lips. He caught Ahsoka's small smile before he fell under.

\--

Anakin's whole body was stiff when he woke up the second time. Stiff and sore, and when he sast up, he found the back of his shirt and the mattress drenched in sweat. He hadn't expected…

Anakin pushed a hand up to his face. It felt warm, even to his own hands, although Anakin couldn't tell just how much of that was just himself getting used to regular temperatures and how much of it was actually being sick if he was actually sick to begin with…

Anakin stifled a cough as he set his feet on the ground. To his relief, he managed the few steps to the refresher without falling over.

He turned on the light and stared at his reflection for a good long while before turning on the tap.

He looked awful: sunken eyes and pale cheeks and cracked lips, the whole stretch. Anakin didn't think he had been _that_ bad…

He splashed water on his face, blinked a few times at his reflection again. He turned off the lights, walked back to his bed. Anakin lingered there for an instant before his stomach growled. Of course. He couldn't remember the last time he ate.

Anakin glanced at the comlink and decided to ignore it. He could figure out the food situation by himself.

He found his boots eventually—dry now—a cloak, and then he was slipping out of the room.

Only to run into Ahsoka.

She was sitting in the hallway, datapad in hand, and she didn't look at all surprised when Anakin stopped in front of her.

"How long were you—"

"For a while," Ahsoka replied. She tucked the datapad away and stood to her feet. "Everything okay?"

"Just looking for food," Anakin said dumbly.

"Perfect," Ahsoka said.

Anakin blinked. "What's that supposed to—"

"The others are eating too," Ahsoka explained. She gestured down the hallway. "Pretty sure everyone's looking forward to seeing you actually awake and alive."

"Just another normal day," Anakin said.

Ahsoka gave him a small smile, albeit a strained one. She gestured down the hallway again. "Come on," she said. "We're not off this stupid planet yet—but some of the boys rigged the heat lamps so that...well, you'll see."

Ahsoka led Anakin through the corridors. There were, in fact, not too many troopers patrolling around, save for one or two who gave Anakin and Ahsoka a quick smile, a quick nod before going on with their day.

Anakin glanced at Ahsoka a few times. She was staring straight ahead, and though her expression was one of neutrality—familiar, mostly relaxed, he still saw the slightest tension in her shoulders as she led him through the halls.

"Everything good?"

Ahsoka blinked. "'Course," she said, giving Anakin a quick glance. She was growing rather good at those, Anakin learned.

Anakin paused as they turned another corner. "You're worried."

For a moment, Anakin thought Ahsoka didn't hear him—or maybe, more likely, she was just choosing to ignore him. But another moment passed, and then Ahsoka said, "You've been sleeping for the last two days."

_Two days?_

Anakin managed a light laugh. It grated against his throat, and he turned away, holding back a feeble cough. "Explains a lot," he managed when he recovered himself.

Ahsoka didn't laugh. "Just...with you _and_ Master Kenobi…" She rubbed at her arm. She looked at Anakin. "Just make sure you actually have working speeders next time?"

Anakin paused. Ahsoka's eyes were wide, looking up at him with a fear that he hadn't noticed before.

 _Fear leads to_ —

Anakin shut that part out.

"Ahsoka, he said, setting a hand on Ahsoka's shoulder. "I'm okay. See? Walking and talking and everything."

"You look and sound terrible."

"Really? I didn't notice."

Ahsoka bowed her head.

"Hey." Anakin nudged Ahsoka. "I'm sorry that you got worried. I'll check the speeders next time."

Ahsoka nodded mutely.

"Think of it this way," Anakin added after a few more minutes of silence. You got to save the day."

Ahsoka smiled weakly. She still wasn't entirely convinced, Anakin knew—and he knew that because he was feeling some of that same not-quite-convinced feeling in his own chest.

"Come on," Anakin said, patting Ahsoka's shoulder. "I'm starving."

\--

Turned out that the clones had, in fact, rigged up the heat lamps in a way to make even the frozen wasteland mostly warm. A few troopers were sitting around a lamp, and they all looked up to wave when Ahsoka and Anakin reached the site.

There was some laughter passed around—some exaggerated versions of the events, but in the end, Anakin found himself sitting at the edge of the site, his eyes already on the verge of closing again. He saw Ahsoka talking to Rex nearby one of the other heat lamps, their tones too low for Anakin to catch.

In the end, Anakin wound up walking back to his room by himself. He waved aside a few troopers—but all the same, Anakin was sure to stay to the wall in case he did something embarrassing like trip and fall again.

He was about to keep walking—his room had just come into view, anyways—when he heard the coughing.

Anakin paused. He looked to one of the doors—there, the coughing had to come from there.

Without a second thought, Anakin opened the door.

He found Obi-Wan hunched over, clearly from the coughing—his hair had fallen over his face, and he was struggling to push himself back from the edge, but his arms were shaking too much, Anakin realized.

"Here." Anakin walked around the other side of the bed, tugged Obi-Wan back.

"You're…" Obi-Wan's glazed eyes looked up to meet Anakin's. He swallowed. "You're awake."

"Yeah," Anakin said. He rolled his shoulders. "You know, I didn't think it was possible for me to sleep through two days. Must be a once-in-a-lifetime thing." He tried for a smile, but it didn't really feel right. Obi-Wan looked just as bad as Anakin feared—pale face, cracked lips, sunken eyes. "You look terrible."

A weak smile. "I could say the same of you."

"Yeah, but…" Anakin cleared his throat. Wrong move. He coughed into his elbow, tried to keep the coughs contained, but his chest and throat ached all the same. He heard the slightest shift in the bed behind him, and then he felt Obi-Wan's hand settle on his back. He let Obi-Wan force him to sit down, felt Obi-Wan sit up behind him.

When Anakin finally stopped coughing, he managed, "That doesn't prove anything."

"Clearly," Obi-Wan replied dryly. He lowered his hand, and for a moment, they just sat there.

Anakin turned around. Obi-Wan still looked drained, hair still in his face and shoulders slightly rounded over from the strain of just being up. When he caught Anakin looking, Obi-Wan gave another halfhearted smile.

"Put that away," Anakin said, turning around fully. He started to push himself off the bed. "I'll leave you to actually rest."

"I'm perfectly awake now," Obi-Wan replied, leaning back against the propped-up pillow.

"That's what you say now…"

"I am, in fact," Obi-Wan said. He shifted against the bed, looked at Anakin. His gaze softened. "Anakin. I'm alright."

Anakin didn't say anything.

"You sounded like you were going to hack up a lung," Anakin said. "Just a second ago."

"Now that's just an exaggeration," Obi-Wan replied.

"And before—"

"Well, we _were_ out on the ice—"

"Shut up, just let me—"

"Now that's just rude—"

" _Will you just_ —" Anakin cut himself off. Rested his forehead against his hands. "I'm trying to apologize here."

A silence.

And then Anakin felt hands—cold hands, _they were cold_ —drag his wrists away.

"Anakin," Obi-Wan said quietly. "You don't need to apologize. The mess out there was something out of your control."

"Should have checked the speeders," Anakin muttered. "And I should have been more careful about where I was standing…and you _didn't have to_ —" He stopped. "I would have been able to handle it."

"I'm sure."

They sat in silence.

Finally, Anakin said, "Your hands are cold."

Obi-Wan moved his hands away. "I'm sorry—"

"No—you—" Anakin huffed out a breath. "You _really_ shouldn't be the one apologizing right now."

"Returning the sentiment, are we?"

"Yeah, well." Anakin turned around fully. "Next time, I'm checking the speeders."

"Sounds like a good plan."

"Yeah, well," Anakin repeated. "My _other_ good plan involved me getting you to go back to sleep, but that's not working out, really."

"Well. Nobody's perfect."

In the end, Anakin _did_ wind up getting Obi-Wan to go back to sleep.

Only he supposed he hadn't intended to fall asleep either—but he did, the two of them crammed together in one bed.

Anakin woke up once.

Obi-Wan's hand was warm this time around.

**Author's Note:**

> swear this just started as an innocent 'what if Obi-Wan fell through the ice on a mission' fic and then it blew up into something about sea serpents and getting caught in a rainstorm and then this whole thing-but it felt nice to write something about these two in a standalone fic.
> 
> As always, comments/kudos are greatly appreciated!
> 
> come say hi on [tumblr](katierosefun.tumblr.com)!


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